USAID, Nigeria Energy Stakeholders Plan To Electrify More PHCs
On the 2nd of June, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Power Africa Nigeria Power Sector Program, USAID Integrated Health Program, and the Government of Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency had launched a call-to-action so as to provide more primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in Nigeria with clean, reliable, and sustainable power.
While speaking on behalf of the USAID, Paul McDermott the Director of the Office of Health Population Nutrition, said, “We view this as an opportunity for partners and stakeholders in both the energy and health sectors to make commitments, and work collectively to ensure that fully functional primary healthcare centers can be accessed by all Nigerians.”
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The USAID-funded Sustainable Energy For All 2022 Powering Healthcare Roadmap estimated that approximately 40 percent of Nigeria’s primary healthcare centers lack access to electricity. With the provision of access to a stable power supply, the PHCs will be able to provide essential services to patients, such as those who are receiving maternal and newborn care at time of delivery, cold storage for vaccinations, running medical equipment, and delivering their services after dark.
The call-to-action outlined activities that the power and healthcare sector stakeholders can execute so as to accelerate the PHC electrification, and also challenges stakeholders to achieve clean electrification solutions for 1,000 PHCs by 2023 and build a total of 10,000 PHCs by 2030.
Anita Otubu, the Head of the Nigeria Electrification Project Program Management Unit at the Rural Electrification Agency, said that, “We are looking to bridge the energy access gaps in primary healthcare centers across the country and we call on everyone to take immediate action on the call-to-action.”
USAID’s Power Africa Nigeria Power Sector Program has collaborated with the Rural Electrification Agency and is supporting programs in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, which aims to sustainably electrify over 700 PHCs by the end of 2023. The USAID will continue to support the power and healthcare sector stakeholders so as to to expand the electricity access to PHCs across Nigeria.
